Toy
by The Cuboid
Summary: To live in poverty means their parents cannot afford a toy. But Kamui had his own methods to fulfil his sister extravagant wishes. Oblivious to her brother cruelty, she loved the present, she loved her brother. A drabble of stories that tells how Kamui and Kagura came to be


**A/N: There is violence in this chapter. Be forewarned. I mean, hey, it's Kamui.**

 **Gintama is not mine and will never be…**

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"Mother, I want a toy. Give me or I'll cry." Kagura said stubbornly, her small face contorted in preparation, small hands balled themselves into little fists.

"Kagura. Be reasonable, you know we do not have the money."

Reasoning was given with rationale but Kagura ignored her basis for she was still to childish to comprehend them. She shed the threatened tears, oblivious to her mother's plea.

Kagura's mother was bedridden from the disease, a wispy quality filled her weak speeches, she had spurned into coughing fits from the effort of lifting her voice. Nonetheless, the pitiful condition gained little sympathy from Kagura, she was too focussed with her tantrum.

Kamui was having breakfast, he played with the chopsticks in his hands, watching their exchange with passivity. Both sides were too obstinate to give in, they wanted to win but knew better to rely on Kamui for help for he had always stayed neutral in these matters.

Kagura had been on this personal quest of hers for months, they had always ended with swollen eyes on her part and the rejecting silence from their mother,

Typically, Kamui felt neither empathic towards to his mother's condition nor his sister unfulfilled desire. He just sat there passively, no grudge, no compassion.

"Kamui don't suck the chopsticks. It's extremely rude." Their mother directed her anger towards her eldest child, it was not her first.

Kamui decided that she was too tied with manners and customs, always nagging, but strangely he did not hate that, in fact, he did not feel anything about it at all.

Kamui complied with a slight nod, and picked on his food instead, it was sure that he would still be hungry if he finished them, so there was no rush to do so. He did not complain about the lack of food, it was the best Umibozu's wages could do for them. His father had earned a great sum from his mercenary work, but the travelling had to deduct from the promising amount.

As a Yato eats a lot, the food on their table was actually enough to last another family for three meals, so their daily expenses were also not a small amount.

"Shut up kid. Go sell your hair if you want a toy." Umibozou had enough of his daughter childish dedication, he had just returned from a job, and had his solidarity hours disturbed by Kagura's crying.

"But Yunan…do not have to sell his hair for…his ball" Kagura referred to another child of her age in their neighbourhood with a tone of jealousy, hoping that would justify her stubbornness. "His parents…brought it for him even though they are as…poor as us." She stuttered over her sobs, heaving in and out of her words but their will had passed across, Kamui could see the rage in Umibozu reaction.

"NO!" said Umibozu. It was dismissal but Kagura stood erect on the ground, her eyes burned with ferocity, it was her rebel to the decision.

Umibozu, as response to his daughter immovable will, he slapped Kagura with the same strong arms that had killed others. In the heat of the moment, he struggled for restraint, it was no doubt a controlled blow, but to Kagura, it was a harsh smack. She plunged down the hard floor in pain, smalls hand tending the injury, but still stayed on the spot obdurately. Kagura's pale face swelled with a red shade, crimson liquid leaked from her mouth. The punch broke her teeth, Kamui thought

Family violence was common in Yato households, Kamui treated this to be a mundane ritual of family education. He himself had received no less blows in his defiant years. After all, Yato have a great resistance to wounds and pain. It was in their spirit, he decided, to be taught like that, his sister would soon be proud of suffering from Umibozu's teaching as he did.

"Thank you for the meal." Kamui stood up and went towards the door, he could not coop up with the racket any longer.

Their house was in a dark alley, little light that was left from the gloomy skyline that was blocked with a great stretch of coarse fabric made by jute fibre, hung there by other Yato who resided their side of the neighbourhood.

Kamui closed out the light emitted from living room, darkness alone engulfed his every being, but there was no feeling of isolation for a sharp squeaking of alley rats could be heard, their crimson eyes glimmered in darkness, reflecting the dangers of their carnivorous diet. There were no less of victims who fall prey to these malicious creatures when they slept drunk in these streets. The stench of decay and urine reached Kamui nose, he was used to the smell, he lived his twelve years of life smelling the same odour.

The Yato family dwelled on this planet because of the lack of sunlight, the convenience of the rain clouds that shrouded them from celestial light and heat. But the downside of living there was the melancholy atmosphere it allowed; humid air introduced mould and dangerous microorganisms, not that Kamui would mind.

He liked the place, it suited him, compatible to their Yato fear of sunlight and their love for danger as such planet was inhabited by the worst thugs and hooligans.

Mould grew on the walls of his house, if he put his fingers on the slime, they will sink a few centimetres down before he could touch hard concrete. The unhygienic environment contributed to their mother sickness but she refused to move out of the planet as Umibozu had once proposed. She knew that her husband did not meant it, all he cared about was himself, his job, satisfying his wild senses as a Yato, a quench for blood in the battlefield.

He hated his father but liked how well he held their Yato pride, their principles.

Kamui went further into the darkness, he wondered how many of the ruffians would pick fight with him, he was in the mood of breaking some necks.

Kamui was young, but he was not unknown to the delinquents, since he made debut when he was ten, Kamui had gained notorious reputation for victories over the toughest bullies in these streets but it did not stop the daring to challenge him. He felt glad as a man from the shadow launched at him with a flint knife. Kamui felt a short moment of euphoria when he heard the assailant's spine snapped with a crispy clear sound.

The thugs and fighters had a custom to gather at the end of the alley, a vast space that was under the open skyline, where a rubbish incinerator stood, it was a perfect for the purpose of burning the corpse of the victims in these fights.

A ring was formed from the high walls on three sides and the crowd of spectators on one. By doing this, the losers of the fights cannot escape, they will be under the mercy of the victors, it would be their decision to spare or kill their opponents.

"Yo Kamui. Nice to have you back." A man in his mid twenties called out above the cheers and jeers of the excitable crowd. Shuffling through the mass of sweaty bodies, Kamui came up to the man with unkempt hair who also did not bother to shave.

He was a Yato like Kamui, this was why he felt a connection to the man, but he knew better to know that it was a false bond that they would someday abandon. They were both active participants of the fights, kill or to be killed, Kamui waited for the promised day. But for now, Kamui would satisfy himself with the faulty delusions of camaraderie, an agreement not to fight someone of the same species, though the reason of their pact was birthed from the man's part. To Kamui, the man was the only person, who dared to associate with him, it would be a shame if he was dead.

"Hello Abuto. Who are you betting on? The girl I expect." A fight was going on, a bloody pulp of flesh was lying on the floor while a female alien was kicking it with her hard boots. Kamui mused at her strong legs and agility as she landed one blow after another.

"Yeah. She's a tough piece of ass. I had advice from the stupid excitement over her, but it was merely a whim of mine after all, you see."

"Ouch." Kamui said with his sing song cheerfulness as the woman's final blow was dealt, the raised hand of the deformed pulp that had since been pleading for surrender, plunged down lifelessly the earth, for a long while it laid motionless and the referee decided person was dead.

"Blue wins!" The referee called out as the female alien wiped the blood and pus or her boots with the swishing of her long tail.

"She's worthwhile. You want her?" Abuto was his elder after all, he should show some respect by asking permission.

"Bless me. I had enough. Some shit bashed my guts you see." Abuto lifted his clothes to let Kamui have a view to his bruised abdomen, a huge area was colored with a disgusting blue.

"What happen to that shit then? Had he did not kill you? How merciful." Kamui said with a satire tone.

"I twisted his windpipe. Dead." Abuto grinned at the brutality. He claimed to be peace loving but the Yato instinct would have kicked in eventually, this was the reason Abuto came to fight-though sparingly, because he was truly a Yato.

"Lame joke old man. Lame joke." Kamui gave him a discouraging smile.

Sensing it Abuto retorted:"You're not fun. Youngsters seem to develop a new type of humour nowadays."

The referee was a tough looking chimera like alien, he lifted the unidentifiable corpse with ease and could flung it into the incinerator from a distance while turning on the power. Flame engulfed the corpse hungrily.

"Who wants to fight next?" The woman who won the battle pocketed her share of the bets, then, she lifted her hands up, posing a victory stance, intimidating anyone who tried to arose to her challenge.

"I'll do." Kamui's hand shot up. He was not tall given his age, the referee squinted his yellow eyes at the source of the sound. Abuto lifted his hands to indicate his position.

"It's the kid again," he said knowing the referee understood. Kamui was a constant winner of this fights, or rather, he had never lose, not to locals nor to those who came from the outside. High bets were placed on him, placing bets on a Yato always guarantee some quick cash.

The crowd cleared a way for him in anticipation, some of his supporters gave him a good encouraging slap, Kamui would punish them for their chumminess if not that his pocket money came from their bets.

The wall made from the crowd closed up again once Kamui was at the registry, the two bookmarkers rushed to receive the placing of bets and the money.

The system was an easy one, for convenience and to save time. Those who bet on the challenger would stand at the left side while the ones who bet on the challenged stood on the right. They will receive a blue or red ticket, depending on who they bet on, with the amount they placed marked with punched dots. There was a printed number and date on the paper to prevent the gamblers faking their win with their last ticket and to indicate the sets of fights they staked their money on. To avoid confusion, the money is received at a certain intervals between battles.

Kamui studied his opponent as the bets were collected and calculated.

The fighter was not an ugly alien in Kamui standard, in fact, she was a beautiful mutation of a leopard in humanoid form. The strong legs and developed tone of muscle under her well endowed chest was an alluring combination, Kamui decided, must be the source of Abuto whim.

The wait for the sorting of bets was also a designation for the challenged to rest, but instead, she came to Kamui side to initiate an agreement.

She measured the divergent of the crowd with a long glance and said: "I don't know who you are hotshot. But you better surrender before you lose a limb or two. I do not like beating children."

"Save your breath lady. If you are offering me to cooperate, I will say no."

"Think better child. Think how your mummy and daddy will feel if you die here today."

"Oh and what? You get a easy win? The answer is still no."

"Ungrateful wrench. See that guy in the incinerator? He said the same thing." She spited on the spot next to Kamui. "You will regret this later."

She walked off in haughty steps, her back swished with her tail. Kamui felt repulsion building up, he hated to be look down upon and had spent years in the ring to erase that thought. But the female alien was new there, she must have come from another territory. Kamui thought that even if she was the strongest there, his arena was sacred and she had violated it with her spit.

The next moment passed in a haze, Kamui confined his conscious deep within him while letting his Yato instinct to roam. It was something he had mastered with enough experience, he could watch a battle as if he was one of the spectators, in the best seat. He could only speak of his battles with the account of another person, though his conscious was not ignorant of the thrill in his nerves, adrenaline fuelled his muscles with the promise of tremendous strength. This was addictive by itself, but he was not satisfied only to have the premier seat in his battles, he wanted to delve into battling mode without dampening his senses, to enjoy it to the fullest extent. He wondered if this was too greedy of him.

His opponent seemed to sense that she had picked the wrong fight, she winced at his bloodlust, but she was not without experience, she fought them back with her own aura.

The referee threw his hand into the empty air. "FIGHT!" The echo of his beastlike bellow resound the spaces between the high walls.

Kamui and the woman encircled the ring before she reached a wall from behind, her legs pounded it, forming a crater in solid concrete. In seconds, the legs propelled her towards Kamui with a great precision, diamond cutting claws protruded between her furry fingers, ringing with intentions to kill. Kamui dodged to a safe side, but the span of her body was an advantage over Kamui's undeveloped physique, with a turn, she colapsed on him, pinning him under her weight.

Before she could lock or hurt him, Kamui used his brutal strength to kick her away. In normal circumstances, the body would have dented the receiving wall with the impact but the female alien flipped midair, reducing the momentum and to letting her feet receive most of it. She gave a quick counterattack with the same leap before.

Kamui whistled at the sturdy muscles that could not be hurt with his strength at the greatest. He admit that the opponent was the most powerful he had met in years, unlike most battle that was dominated by his privileged strength.

Kamui wished that he had brought his parasol, it would be an easier fight with it. But as his recent opponents had proven to be weakling themselves, he predicted it to be the same that day.

Kamui too, took a glimpse at the crowd to calculate the profit in that fight, he would be rewarded with a greater share if he won, the rates looked equal, if not more on the woman's part, as many betters was standing on the side of his opponent.

He had found the motivation and the way to win.

The woman leaped continuously trying to cut him with her claws but Kamui make sure they were futile by feigning his steps. The opponent relied on gestures to predict his moves, if he faked them, he could dodge most of her attacks. The probability was on his side, the woman guessed wrong for most of her jumps, he had only took a shallow cut to his arm and his cheek. The damage, Kamui assumed, will regenerate after an hour or two, he was grateful to be Yato.

The fight was getting more and more predictable with opponent slowing with her spontaneous jumps, Kamui saw her weakness as a species that had evolved from leopards, they never had the stamina.

Kamui felt that he had to end this, the opponent was a weakling, feeding him with the same attempt over and over without shifting into another pattern. Kamui mocked her by closing to a wall and kicking on it like her, he shot forward to the air to receive her coming attack and ended her life with a flashy kick on the skull. The irony of being killed with her best move notched up the radiance of Kamui customary smile, it was his final gift to her though she did not deserve that much.

Kamui licked the blood that had spluttered from her head wound, the woman face was full of regret as her beastlike eyes clouded. The referee announced his victory.

Kamui took his prize money and shoved his way out of the wall of people, he did not turn back to see the female alien burn.

"That was a great show boy. The theatrics, you two were flying on walls, aren't ya'? Poor little babe. Hey where ya' goin'?" Abuto caught him in the crowd.

"I've earned enough. Thanks for the support old man." Kamui bade Abuto goodbye with the swaying of his hands.

"Hey who said I bet on ya'? Alright I did. Hey wait. There's a challenger for you."

"You take him for me. Oh and, do you know if there's an place that sells toys?"

Toys were rare, if there was any in this hellhole. After all, ruffians and wanted criminals had not the need to reminisce their childhood.

"There's a shop downtown, you know beside the tofu stall. That stank of rotten vegetables."

"Okay."

"If you're planning for a toy leave it. That perverted geezer bed kids. He doesn't care about money. Oi you listening?" Kamui left Abuto shouting for him to return.

Kamui was picturing a future situation in his mind. He would get his sister a toy, ball, a doll, anything and he would break it to see her cry. That would be worth his prize money, to torment her. It was a form of bully he had not tried before: giving Kagura something then breaking it himself. He had always broke what that had been there, so it was a fresh train of thought, the urge to try the idea out drove him to hurried strides. Downtown was far by the means of turning into an alley after the other; the criss-crossing of maze was not only the thing that would slow him down, but drunken hooligans who never thought twice to pick fights.

Kamui jumped, projecting himself with a great thrust, he zigzagged upwards between the tall slippery walls, then, he broke a hole in the gunny with sheer momentum, the _roof_ which had deteriorated after years of humid weather.

He leaped from the top of the building to another, shooting through air with it rushing in his face, his Yato sense that loved dangers perked with the precarious height. He had never traveled in this way before but the female alien gave him inspiration to do so, as Abuto said, they were flying.

He scanned the landscape that was flashing before under him, the geography was hard to make out for it was the first time he saw these buildings from a greater height and with his given speed, everything came out in a blur.

Kamui let the opposing air to slow him down by putting less strength between hurls, he pondered over his direction and they were right as proven from the flowing river that seperated downtown into two sides of its bank. He landed a bit too early and needed to follow a few lanes before smelling tofu.

"Hey you. Do you sell toys?" Kamui came up to a grocery shop that stank of garlic and rotten vegetables.

The owner of the stall was a balding alien in old age, with a pot belly bulging in his tight fitting shirt, he smelled of sweat and the garlic he sold.

"You have the money kid?" The owner lifted his eyes from a newspaper with surprise, they were darting around in their small sockets, apprising Kamui; a crafty grin spread on of his narrow face, Kamui was given the impression of a fat fox.

"Yes I do little boy."

"Where are the toys? I don't see one."

"Why don't you come upstairs with uncle while we find the toy together?" The old owner chided in a revoltingly sweet voice.

Kamui picked up a solid rock on the road that resembled concrete, it might be a piece that broke off from the violent fights that could happen literally anywhere in the town. Kamui crushed the rock with pure Yato strength alone.

"Hey bro. No violence. I get the drift." Having a long citizenship of this town, the man wanted no trouble, he walked behind the rows of shelves that were positioned clumsily in his shop, Kamui peered between the messy goods on the rack.

The man came out with a black stuffed rabbit, Kamui noted that it was kept fairly well though there were signs of stitching on its left foot.

The man gave him a fair price: two third of his prize money, Kamui resisted the need of a smacking when the unpleasant owner stared into his pockets, trying to peep at his money.

"Here you go. _Bro_." Kamui slammed the money on the owner's hand. He winced but did not complain.

Kamui brought himself smelly tofu with the money he had left, they soothed his growling system that was always calling for attention.

On the way home, he took the same route as before, it was faster and efficient, it was not long until he reached home.

Their _house_ had only a one room, the kitchen was the dining room, the dining room was the living room, the living room was the bedroom and so on, it would be more accurate to call it _room_. They put up frames, triptych with calligraphy, in place of walls to save money.

Kagura was secluding herself at one corner, on her futon, making herself cosy with the blankets. The dim bulb in the middle of the room illuminated her little corner with creamy shades. Kamui could not see her face clearly. He heard an incoherent tapping sounds besides the creaking of the old ceiling fan.

"Hey Kagura."

"What is it _baka-aniki_?" It was the form of address taken up from Umibozu who referred him as the idiotic son.

Kamui was breaking the stuff rabbit. She had just made that sure.

"Here I have a gift for you."

"Really?" Her voice came up with a happy giggle, a missing front tooth was spotted, a casualty from the previous event. "I have two presents today. Our stinkin' old man gave me a _toy_ for apology."

"Watch your mouth Kagura," said their parents in unison, they were on the other side of the triptych, no real privacy existed between the thin frames, he could see the obscure outline of his parents in the semi transparent mesh fabric.

Kagura ignored the scolding and kept grinning, showing off a pair of regular chopsticks in her hands. "Papa told me to beat the floor with this. Like a drum. See." She hacked the floor with giddily in a disjointed rhythm.

A twang of jealousy burned his chest, he never receive any compensation from their father before, and his beatings were always worst than her sister's.

An image of his own twisted fingers appeared in his mind, Umibozu had felt compelled to give his eldest son some taste of his wrath for leaving his baby daughter outside to be eaten by the alley rats.

His mother begged for him, down on her knees, but she was useless.

' _If you want to defy me at least try to be strong enough for that. Or so the old man says'_

Kamui thanked his treatment, it had made him strong. In contrast, his sister would be weakling if Umibozu continued to pamper her. Well, that was fine for Kamui too, which meant an easier kill.

Kamui snatched the chopsticks from her little hands and broke them, shards of wood flew to the floor.

"Here. Have this. This is better." Kamui handed the stuffed rabbit to Kagura.

"Ew. This stinks like rotten vegetables" Her nose twitched.

Kamui reached his hands out to snatch the doll from her. But then Kagura smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you ni-chan."

Kamui caressed her swollen cheek, it had not heal just yet, given to Kagura undeveloped regenerative abilities as a young Yato,

Despite his denial, her smile was worth his trouble.

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 **A/N: Kamui is evil. I'm taking utmost liberties with his POV. I'm well prepared for a suing. Feel free to drop them in the box bellow.**

 **I'm crossing my fingers for future updates…but well…the fluff will wait.**


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